Howa 1500 v Winchester 70 action comparison
The Howa 1500, imported to the US by Legacy Sports International and sold as a barreled action by Brownells, is often thought of and compared to the Remington 700. While these two actions do share some similarities (read more about them here), the Howa also has a lot in common with the post-64 push feed Winchester.
I had my buddy’s Model 70 on my workbench so I decided to take a few different pictures of them side by side. A quick note, the Winchester 70 in these photos is a long-action, while the Howa 1500 is a short-action.
The Winchester 70 (front) and Howa 1500 (rear) both have a flat bottom, integral lug, top radius and 2-lug bolt. The Winchester has a 3-position safety mounted on the firing pin shroud.
The flat bottom on both guns makes bedding and alignment in chassis systems slightly more difficult. The advantage of a round bottom is that it sits neatly in any kind of V-block set-up, like those used by Modular Driven Technologies (MDT). Also note the different rear tang shapes in this image.
The front action screw is located in different places on both guns. The Howa (bottom) has the action screw pass directly through the front recoil lug (which is tapered), while the Winchester has the front action screw pass through a flat located behind the recoil lug. Note the difference in both receiver’s rear tangs.
The Howa’s receiver threads are M26x1.5 while the Winchester’s are 1″x16.
Both actions use a 2-lug bolt. The primary extraction areas are different for both, with the Howa cocking on the side of the action.
Both actions use a spring loaded ejector. The Howa (left) uses an M16 type extractor, wile the Winchester uses a small spring loaded extractor similar to the kind found on a Savage Model 10.
The next time you hear someone compare the Howa 1500 to a Remington 700; remember, it also shares a lot in common with the Winchester 70 push-feed.
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